Integration of the silicon IMPATT diode in an analog technology

ABSTRACT

A method to integrate a vertical IMPATT diode in a planar process.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of priority under U.S.C. §119(e) ofU.S. Provisional Application 61/847,742 (Texas Instruments docket numberTI-72793PS, filed Jul. 18, 2013).

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to the field of semiconductor devices. Moreparticularly, this invention relates to integration of the IMPactAvalanche Transit-Time (IMPATT) diode into the analog technology.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The IMPATT diode is a 2-terminal device with typical applications in thearea of radio frequency (RF) power generation and amplification.Compared to a 3-terminal device approach, the IMPATT diode can befabricated to have very small resistive loss and parasitic capacitance.Therefore, the IMPATT diode can generate high RF power at highfrequency, making it especially useful for the Terahertz (>300 GHz)applications.

A conventional n-type IMPATT diode, as shown in FIG. 1 consists of threedistinct regions, a heavily doped P++ region 101 for avalanchebreakdown, a lightly doped N region 102 for charge drift, and a heavilydoped N++ region 103 for charge collection. When the diode is reversebiased, the free electrons inside the N region are depleted from thedevice, creating a peak electrical field at the P++/N junction. When thereverse DC bias increases, the peak electrical field increases, untilone of two breakdown processes occurs. In one process, the field may beso high that it exerts sufficient force on a covalently bound electronto free it. This creates two carriers, a hole and an electron tocontribute to the current. This breakdown is called Zener breakdown ortunneling breakdown. In the second breakdown process, the residual freecarriers are able to gain enough energy from the electrical field andbreak covalent bond in the lattice. This process is called avalanchebreakdown, and every carrier interacting with the lattice as describedabove creates two additional carriers. All three carriers can thenparticipate in further avalanching collisions, leading to a suddenmultiplication of carriers in the space-charge region when the maximumfiled becomes large enough to cause avalanche,

Once the carriers are created by breakdown in the high field region, theholes will flow out of the device from the top Ohmic contact, resultingin DC current. The electrons will travel across the N region (driftregion) 102 and flow out of the device through the bottom Ohmic contact.With proper designed doping profile, the electrical field in the Nregion 102 will be high enough that all the electrons will move at theirsaturation velocity v_(sat). Since the thickness of N region is nonzero,the electrons take finite time, called transit-time, to flow out of thedevice. Under alternating current (AC) condition, the diode AC current,coming from the moving electrons within the device, can lag behind theAC voltage applied on the diode, resulting in phase delay between ACcurrent and AC voltage. In the IMPATT diode, the thickness of the Nregion (drift region) is designed properly to create 180 degree phasedelay, therefore the diode shows negative resistance. Once such diode isconnected with a resonant circuit, the diode negative resistance cancreate oscillation and generate RF power.

Typically, a silicon IMPATT diode is fabricated vertically in mesastructure, as in Henry's U.S. Pat. No. 3,896,478. Similar structures arealso disclosed in Henry's U.S. Pat. No. 3,649,386 and Lee's U.S. Pat.Nos. 4,030,943 and 4,064,620. Such mesa structures are still widely usedin recent works. Bayraktaroglu, from TI (Texas Instruments), disclosed aslightly different approach, as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,596,070, to fabricatethe IMPATT diode where polyimide is used to isolate different activediodes.

Two major source of series parasitic resistance must be minimized, andthese resistances are: 1) contact resistance at the substrate contactmetal interface; 2) series resistance of the substrate modified by skineffect. Contact resistance is reduced by maximizing the effective dopinglevel in the substrate at the contact surface either by maintaining ahigh level of substrate doping or by contact alloying. Minimizingsubstrate resistivity also reduces the skin effect contribution to theseries resistance. To minimize series resistance, the diode substrate isthinned to micrometer range.

The discrete mesa shape IMPATT diode in FIG. 1 becomes difficult toadopt at Terahertz regime. In this frequency range, an optimized diodeshould have a diode diameter smaller than 5 μm. It is challenge tofabricate such small diode with thinned substrate, and still be able toassemble the package with desired electrical property, goodreproducibility, and long term reliability. Therefore an integratedIMPATT diode fabrication technique is needed to solve the abovechallenges.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The following presents a simplified summary in order to provide a basicunderstanding of one or more aspects of the invention. This summary isnot an extensive overview of the invention, and is neither intended toidentify key or critical elements of the invention, nor to delineate thescope thereof. Rather, the primary purpose of the summary is to presentsome concepts of the invention in a simplified form as a prelude to amore detailed description that is presented later.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present application, a verticalIMPATT diode fabricated in a standard planar analog process flow. Thevertical IMPATT diode fabricated in a standard planar analog processflow comprises: a substrate composed of p-type single crystal silicon;an n-type buried layer touching the top surface of the substrate; anun-doped layer touching the top surface of the n-type buried layer; adeep trench extending down to the substrate and completely surroundingthe IMPATT diode and separating the diode from the rest of the elementsin an analog circuit; a shallow trench layer covering the top surface ofthe wafer, wherein openings are included to provide for P⁺⁺ and N⁺⁺areas of the IMPATT diode; an n-well extending through the P⁺⁺ openingin the shallow trench layer into the un-doped layer and touching the topsurface of the n-type buried layer; a deep n+ area partially separatedfrom the n-well by a shallow trench structure, wherein the deep n+ areaextends through the N⁺⁺ opening in the shallow trench layer into theun-doped layer touching the top surface of the n-type buried layer; alayer of material touching the top of the n-well selected from the groupof highly doped p+ silicon, p+ type SiGe, a composite layer of highlydoped p+ silicon on n+ silicon, a composite layer of highly doped p+silicon on n-type Site or a composite layer of p-type SiGe on n-typeSiGe; and ohmic contacts separated from each other by a firstinter-level dielectric material and separately touching the highly dopedn+ layer and the layer of material touching the top of the n-well.

In accordance with another embodiment of the present application, amethod of forming a vertical IMPATT diode in a standard planar analogprocess flow. The method of forming a vertical IMPATT diode in astandard planar analog process flow comprising: providing a substratecomposed of p-type single crystal silicon; epitaxially depositing ann-type buried layer overlaying and touching the top surface of thesubstrate; epitaxially depositing an un-doped layer overlaying andtouching the top surface of the n-type buried layer; forming a deeptrench extending down to the substrate and completely surrounding theIMPATT diode and separating the diode from the rest of the elements inan analog circuit; forming a shallow trench layer covering the topsurface of the wafer, wherein openings are included to provide for P⁺⁺and N⁺⁺ areas of the IMPATT diode; forming an n-well extending throughthe P⁺⁺ opening in the shallow trench layer into the un-doped layer andtouching the top surface of the n-type buried layer; forming a deep n+area partially separated from the n-well by a shallow trench structure,wherein the deep n+ area extends through the un-doped layer and touchesthe top surface of the n-type buried layer; forming a layer of materialtouching the top of the n-well selected from the group of highly dopedp+ silicon, p-type SiGe, a composite layer of highly doped p+ silicon onn+ silicon, a composite layer of highly doped p+ silicon on n-type SiGeor a composite layer of p-type SiGe n-type SiGe; and forming ohmiccontacts separated from each other by a first inter-level dielectricmaterial and separately touching the highly doped n+ layer and the layerof material touching the top of the n-well.

DESCRIPTION OF THE VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a cross section of a typical IMPATT diode.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of an IMPATT diode detailing the structure belowthe first metal level and the first inter-level dielectric materialaccording to the embodiments of the present invention shown in FIGS.3-9.

FIG. 3 is a cross section through section A-A of FIG. 2 of an IMPATTdiode according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 3A-3D illustrate the fabrication steps required to fabricate theIMPATT diode of FIG. 3 according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 4 is a cross section through section A-A of FIG. 2 of an IMPATTdiode according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a cross section through section A-A of FIG. 2 of an IMPATTdiode according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a cross section through section A-A of FIG. 2 of an IMPATTdiode according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a cross section through section A-A of FIG. 2 of an IMPATTdiode according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a cross section through section A-A of FIG. 2 of an IMPATTdiode according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a cross section through section A-A of FIG. 2 of an IMPATTdiode according to another embodiment of the present invention.

In the drawings, like reference numerals are sometimes used to designatelike structural elements. It should also be appreciated that thedepictions in the figures are diagrammatic and not to scale.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

The present invention is described with reference to the attachedfigures. The figures are not drawn to scale and they are provided merelyto illustrate the invention. Several aspects of the invention aredescribed below with reference to example applications for illustration.It should be understood that numerous specific details, relationships,and methods are set forth to provide an understanding of the invention.One skilled in the relevant art, however, will readily recognize thatthe invention can be practiced without one or more of the specificdetails or with other methods. In other instances, well-known structuresor operations are not shown in detail to avoid obscuring the invention.The present invention is not limited by the illustrated ordering of actsor events, as some acts may occur in different orders and/orconcurrently with other acts or events. Furthermore, not all illustratedacts or events are required to implement a methodology in accordancewith the present invention.

The IMPATT diode FIG. 1 consists of three distinct regions, a heavilydoped P⁺⁺ 101 region for breakdown, a lightly doped N region 102 forcharge drift, and a heavily doped N⁺⁺ region 103 for charge collection.The diode is reverse biased at breakdown condition, and holes aregenerated by avalanche in the high field region between P⁺⁺ and Nlayers. The electrical field in the N region is high enough for theholes to move at saturation velocity but low enough to prevent theadditional charges from being created by impact ionization. The holesfinally reach the low field N⁺⁺ region and are absorbed by the bottomOhmic contact.

Typically, a silicon IMPATT diode is fabricated vertically in a mesastructure. Although this solution works, it cannot be integrated withmodern analog processing.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of an IMPATT diode detailing the structure belowthe first metal level 401 and the first inter-level dielectric material402 according to the embodiments of the present invention shown in FIGS.3-9.

FIG. 3 depicts a partial sectional depiction of a semiconductorsubstrate with an n-type IMPATT diode embodying the present invention.

FIGS. 3A through 3D illustrate various parts of a process that can beutilized to fabricate an IMPATT diode in accordance with an aspect ofthe present invention. Those skilled in the art will understand andappreciate that many or all portions of the process can be implementedwith a bipolar or Bi-CMOS process. Additionally, while the followingprocess steps will be described mainly with respect of forming an n-typeIMPATT diode, those skilled in the art will understand and appreciatethat a p-type IMPATT diode can also could be fabricated in accordancewith an aspect of the present invention. Additionally, it is to beunderstood and appreciated that the particular order shown in thefigures can be deviated and still produce an IMPATT diode in accordancewith an aspect of the present invention.

Turning to FIG. 3A, the process begins by providing a substrate composedof p-type single crystal silicon 301, then forming an n-type buried(NBL) layer 302 overlaying and touching the top surface of the substrateas shown in FIGS. 3-8, and then epitaxially depositing an un-doped layer(EPI) 303 overlaying and touching the top surface of the NBL layer 302.In this embodiment, substrate 301 is p-type silicon wafer. Note that anIMPATT diode may be built on substrate of other group IV elements orcompound semiconductor materials such as gallium arsenide and mercurytelluride. The substrate may be mono-crystalline or poly-crystalline. Itmay be a bonded wafer where a layer of insulator is bonded to layers ofsemiconductor material.

Also depicted in FIG. 3A is a NBL layer 302. The NBL layer is usually aheavily doped, mono-crystalline silicon layer, and this layer serves aslow-resistance current path between the drift layer 307 and the sinkerlayer 306. The drift layer 307 and the sinker layer 306 will bediscussed in a later section. In a high-performance bipolar or Bi-CMOSintegrated-circuit chip, an NBL layer is usually present for othercircuit considerations. Note that a second, p-type buried layer may beincorporated atop the NBL layer for building a p-type IMPATT diode in ap-type substrate. In many circuit applications, having a second buriedlayer is advantageous since the avalanche noise within the IMPATT diodewill not interfere with the components in surrounding environment.

Also depicted in FIG. 3A is an epitaxial layer 303 which is an un-dopedmono-crystalline silicon layer with high resistivity. In thisembodiment, the entire device 300 is mono-crystalline. Note that anIMPATT diode may also be built with poly-crystalline material in thebreakdown layer 308, drift layer 307, and sinker layer 306, althoughmono-crystalline material tends to have some physical properties such ascharge carrier mobility that are superior to those associated withpolycrystalline material. The breakdown layer 308, drift layer 307, andsinker layer 306 will be discussed in a later section.

Turning to FIG. 3B, the process is followed by forming a field oxidelayer 304 covering the top surface of the wafer, wherein openings areincluded to provide for drift layers 307 under the breakdown layer 308and the N⁺⁺ sinker opening 306 of the IMPATT diode. The drift layer 307and breakdown layer 308 will be discussed in a later section. The fieldoxide layer 304 is typically silicon dioxide between 250 and 600nanometers thick, commonly formed preferably by shallow trench isolation(STI) process, or possibly by local oxidation of silicon (LOCOS)processes. The STI layer 304 electrically isolates the sinker layer 306from breakdown layer 308.

Also depicted in FIG. 3B, the process is then followed by forminganother field oxide layer 305 extending from the top surface of theun-doped EPI layer 303 down to the substrate and completely surroundingthe IMPATT diode, thereby separating the diode from the rest of theelements in an analog circuit. The field oxide layer 305 is typicallysilicon dioxide between 1 and 10 micrometers thick, commonly formedpreferably by deep trench isolation (DT) process. With the DT layer 305,the IMPATT diode 300 is electrically isolated from other electricalcomponents, and is communicable to other circuit elements of anintegrated circuit through metallic leads 401. The metallic lead 401will be discussed in a later section.

Turning to FIG. 3C, the process is followed by forming a deep N⁺⁺ sinkerlayer 306 through the N⁺⁺ opening surrounded by the STI layer 304,partially separated from the breakdown layer 308 by the STI layer 304and a portion of the un-doped EPI layer 303, wherein the deep N⁺⁺ sinkerlayer 306 extends through the un-doped EPI layer 303 and touches the topsurface of the NBL layer 302. The sinker layer 306 is an n-type layer,which is heavily doped, mono-crystalline silicon layer. It creates a lowresistive path between the underneath NBL layer 302 and top metallicleads 401. The metallic lead 401 will be discussed in a later section.

Turning to FIG. 3D, the process is followed by forming a drift layer 307through the opening in the STI layer 304, wherein the drift layer 307extends through the un-doped EPI layer 303 and touches the top surfaceof the NBL layer 302. The drift layer 307 is an n-type layer, which islightly doped, mono-crystalline silicon layer. When the IMPATT diode isreverse biased, the free charge is depleted from the drift layer 307,and high electrical field is built up in this drift layer. On one hand,the electrical field in the drift layer 307 is high enough that chargeswill move at their saturation velocity from the breakdown layer 308 tothe NBL layer 302. The breakdown layer 308 will be discussed in a latersection. On the other hand, the electrical field in the drift region 307is low enough that no additional avalanche breakdown will occur in thisdrift layer.

Also depicted in FIG. 3D, the process is followed by forming a breakdownlayer 308 touching the top of the drift layer 307. The breakdown layer308 is a p-type layer, which is heavily doped, mono-crystalline siliconlayer. Since the drift layer 307 and the sinker layer 306 are doped withn-type dopant, the same doping polarity as that in the NBL layer, thereexists a p-n junction at the intersection between the breakdown layer308 and the drift layer 307, while the intersections between the NBLlayer 302 and the drift layer 307 and the sinker layer 306 will beOohmic. When the diode is reverse biased, the electrical field at thep-n junction described above is high enough that breakdown will occur.Charges will be generated in this breakdown layer 308, by eitheravalanche breakdown or tunneling breakdown, or mixed avalanche-tunnelingbreakdown. Since the electric field in the drift layer 307 is highenough, the electrons created by the avalanche process will drift attheir saturation velocity across the drift layer 307. Since theepitaxial layer 303 is un-doped, there exists a potential barrier toprevent the current flow directly from the drift layer 307 to the sinkerlayer 306. In addition, the sinker layer 306 is electrically isolatedfrom the breakdown layer 308 by the STI layer 304. Therefore theelectrons created by the breakdown process will drift through the wholedrift layer 307, providing necessary transit-time and creating phasedelay between the AC current and the AC voltage. After drifting acrossthe drift layer 307, the electrons will flow through the low resistivepaths from the NBL layer 302 and sinker layer 306, and reach the topmetallic leads 401. The metallic lead 401 will be discussed in a latersection.

The process steps described above are only a portion of the totalmanufacturing process with which to make an n-type IMPATT diodeembodying this invention. FIG. 3 further depicts a portion of themetallic-lead structure associated with the IMPATT diode where elements401 are the first metal level and elements 402 are the first inter-leveldielectric material. Not shown in FIG. 3 are regions of silicidation,which are commonly employed in the art for reducing the contactresistance between the semiconductor material and the metallic leads401. Refractory metals such as nickel, titanium and cobalt are commonlyemployed in the silicidation process.

The doping of the various layers listed above may be implemented byion-implant techniques, diffusion techniques, or other techniques knownin the art of semiconductor processing. In this embodiment of FIG. 3,the NBL layer 302 is heavily doped, so are the sinker layer 306 andbreakdown layer 308. The drift layer 307 is generally doped more lightlythan the breakdown layer 308 and the NBL layer 302, in order to depletethe free charge in the drift layer and create necessary high electricfield for the charges to transport at their saturation velocity.

FIG. 4 depicts an alternative approach to implement IMPATT diode, wherea heavily doped N⁺⁺ mono-crystalline silicon layer 309 is formed betweenthe breakdown layer 308 and the drift layer 307. With this additionalN⁺⁺ layer 309, the electrical field at the p-n junction between thelayers 308 and 309 can be independently adjusted to create desiredbreakdown composition between avalanche and tunneling, and thereforecreate preferred device noise performance. In addition, the electricalfield in the drift layer 307 can be reduced to minimize the chance ofadditional breakdown in the drift layer 307.

FIG. 5 depicts another approach to implement IMPATT diode where bothN-type and P-type SiGe heterostructures are available. The heavily dopedbreakdown layers 308 and 309 in FIG. 4 can be replaced with a heavilydoped P⁺⁺ SiGe layer 310 and N⁺⁺ SiGe layer 311, respectively. Becausethe SiGe material has smaller bandgap, the electrical properties,especially the avalanche breakdown and tunneling breakdown, will bedifferent from that of the bulk mono-crystalline silicon. It requiresless electrical field to create either avalanche breakdown or tunnelingbreakdown within the SiGe layers 310 and 311. Such feature is advantagessince the breakdown will be confined within the narrow bandgap SiGelayer, and the doping requirement for the drift layer 307 is relaxed.

FIG. 6 depicts another approach to implement IMPATT diode where onlyP-type SiGe material is available. The P⁺⁺ breakdown layer 308 in FIG. 3is replaced with the P⁺⁺ SiGe breakdown layer 310. With proper design,the breakdown will be confined within the P⁺⁺ SiGe breakdown layer 310,and doping requirement for the drift layer 307 is relaxed.

FIG. 7 depicts another approach to implement IMPATT diode where onlyN-type SiGe material is available. The N⁺⁺ breakdown layer 309 in FIG. 4is replaced with the N⁺⁺ SiGe breakdown layer 311. In this case, thebreakdown will be confined within both the P⁺⁺ breakdown layer 308 andthe N⁺⁺ SiGe breakdown layer 311. Compared to the example in FIG. 4, thedoping requirement for the drift layer 307 is relaxed.

A modified process can be used to design a lateral IMPATT diode, as inFIG. 8. In this implementation, the epitaxial layer 312 is doped withn-type, and current will flow under the STI layer 304 and through then-type EPI layer 312 rather than through the NBL layer 302 as in FIG. 3.The advantage of such structure is that the diode operation frequency,as defined by the thickness of the drift layer 307 as in FIG. 3, is nowcontrolled by the width of the STI layer 304 through lithography. Sincethe thickness of the drift layer 307 is usually fixed, the lateralexample in FIG. 8 is more flexible to design diode oscillation frequencyby designing the width of the STI layer 304 through lithography.Multiple oscillators at varies frequencies can be implemented on thesame technology. Still the p-n junction field between the breakdownlayer 308 and the drift layer 312 is uniform which is necessary tocontrol the avalanche breakdown.

FIG. 9 depicts another approach to implement a lateral IMPATT diode,where the buried NBL layer 302 is replaced with a buried oxide layer313. Since the current flows under the STI layer 304 and through then-type EPI layer 312 rather than through the NBL layer 302 as in FIG. 3,there is no electrical benefit to keep the NBL layer 302. The advantageof such structure is that the diode is isolated from rest of componentby the buried oxide layer 313 and the DT layer 305, and the avalanchenoise within the IMPATT diode will not interfere with the components insurrounding environment. Still the p-n junction field between thebreakdown layer 308 and the drift layer 312 is uniform which isnecessary to control the avalanche breakdown.

The advantage the present invention is that it presents new devicearchitectures which allow silicon IMPATT diodes to be integrated into ananalog process.

While various embodiments of the present invention have been describedabove, it should be understood that they have been presented by way ofexample only and not limitation. Numerous changes to the disclosedembodiments can be made in accordance with the disclosure herein withoutdeparting from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, the breadthand scope of the present invention should not be limited by any of theabove described embodiments. Rather, the scope of the invention shouldbe defined in accordance with the following claims and theirequivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A vertical impact avalanche transit-time (IMPATT)diode, comprising: a p-type layer; an n-type buried layer positionedabove the p-type layer; an n-well having a lower portion positionedabove the n-type buried layer and an upper portion positioned above thelower portion; an un-doped layer positioned above the n-type buriedlayer and laterally surrounding the lower portion of the n-well; ashallow trench layer positioned above the un-doped layer and laterallysurrounding the upper portion of the n-well; a sinker layer positionedabove the n-type buried layer and laterally surrounding the un-dopedlayer and the shallow trench layer, the sinker layer coupled to then-well via the n-type buried layer; a breakdown layer formed in theupper portion of the n-well.
 2. The vertical IMPATT diode of claim 1,wherein the breakdown layer includes a highly doped p+ silicon material.3. The vertical IMPATT diode of claim 1, wherein the breakdown layerincludes a p-type SiGe material.
 4. The vertical IMPATT diode of claim1, wherein the breakdown layer includes an n+silicon material positionedabove the lower portion of the n-well, and a p+ silicon materialpositioned above the n+silicon material.
 5. The vertical IMPATT diode ofclaim 1, wherein the breakdown layer includes an n-type SiGe materialpositioned above the lower portion of the n-well, and a p+ siliconmaterial positioned above n-type SiGe material.
 6. The vertical IMPATTdiode of claim 1, wherein the breakdown layer includes an n-type SiGematerial positioned above the lower portion of the n-well, and a p-typeSiGe material positioned above the n-type SiGe material.
 7. The verticalIMPATT diode of claim 1, wherein the un-doped layer abutting the sinkerlayer and the lower portion of the n-well.
 8. The vertical IMPATT diodeof claim 1, further comprising a deep stretch layer laterallysurrounding the sinker layer and the n-type buried layer.